"Are you ready, Maka?" Stein asked, leaning against the wall outside of Maka's bedroom, the door shut. Maka was in there getting her bathers on. She had a swimming lesson today, and wanted to get dressed by herself.
"Uhh…" Maka replied, nervously. Stein sighed and dropped his arms to his sides.
"Do I need to get Aunty Marie?" Stein asked.
"Yahuh!" Maka replied. Stein sighed and walked down the corridor to Marie. He knocked on the door, which was also shut.
"Who is it?" Marie asked.
"Murderer. Let me in." Stein replied. Marie sighed and opened the door with one hand, the other clutching her bikini top to her chest.
"Do me up, then we'll talk." Marie said, turning around. Stein rolled his eyes and sighed, not quite knowing how to go about this situation.
"You do know how to do that, right?" Marie asked. Stein sighed and shook his head.
"Of course I do. I'm not completely inept." Stein said, taking the two strings which held Marie's bikini top up and tying them neatly.
"Thanks." Marie said, turning back around.
"Are you swimming as well?" Stein asked. Marie shrugged.
"May as well. Now, what was it you were after?" Marie asked, pulling on a yellow t-shirt. Stein nodded and walked down the corridor, Marie following. He stopped at Maka's closed door.
"Maka, Aunty Marie is here." he called.
"Uh, Aunty Marie, I in a perdicament." Maka called. Marie turned to Stein.
"She means 'predicament', right?" Marie asked. Stein nodded.
"She's three. How does she know what 'predicament' means?" Marie asked.
"I think you'll find she said 'perdicament.'" Stein remarked. Marie narrowed her eyes before turning back to the door.
"I'm coming in, okay, Maka?" Marie asked.
"O-Okay." Maka replied. Marie creaked open the door to see that Maka sure was in a 'perdicament.'
"… Help?" Maka squeaked. Marie sighed and knelt down. Somehow, Maka had mistaken the leg-hole in her swimming costume for the hole she was supposed to put her head through.
"Oh, Maka, sweetheart." Marie shut the door behind her and knelt down to Maka, taking the swimming costume and pulling it completely over her head.
"Oh, that's much better, Aunty Marie, thanks!" Maka beamed.
"That's alright, honey. Now, let's try to put it on the right way, 'kay?" Marie asked. Maka nodded and stepped into the fluorescent costume, turning around to let Marie put her arms into it and zip it up.
"Better?" Marie asked. Maka nodded and hugged her godmother.
"Thanks, Aunty Marie." she said, smiling widely. Marie smiled and stood up, walking out of the room and passing Stein.
"Yeah, she had the leg-hole around her neck." Marie said. Stein smirked slightly and shook his head.
"How did she even do that?" Stein asked, walking back down the corridor to the bedroom, following Marie.
"I, honestly, have no idea." Marie said. Stein chuckled and sat down on the bed, crossing his arms.
"Why don't you go swimming too, Stein?" Marie asked. Stein chuckled once more.
"I don't do swimming, Marie." Stein remarked. Marie crossed her arms and pouted ever-so-slightly.
"Why not? Give me one good reason." Marie said. Stein stood up and crossed his arms, towering over Marie. To put it simply, Stein was tall. Marie was not. Marie had been the shortest in her year level, the shortest in the E.A.T class and the shortest in her graduating year. That fabled growthh spurt just never hit her.
"I don't have to justify to you, Mjolnir." Stein said, a small smirk on his face. Though she tried very hard to be serious, she couldn't help but break out a smirk as well.
"Don't you just?" she asked. Stein shook his head.
"I really don't." Stein said. Marie sighed and dropped her arms.
"I don't see why not. It's good exercise, it's not outdoors, so you won't get burnt, I'm sure you've got a good enough body for it, and I-"
"Sorry?" Stein cut in. Marie turned to Stein, raising an eyebrow. Stein chuckled.
"You said, and I quote, 'I'm sure you've got a good enough body for it.'" Stein said. Marie's face rapidly turned a pink hue and she turned away from the silver haired meister.
"Shut up." Marie said, defiantly. Stein chuckled and walked around to face the hammer.
"Come on - There's no shame in admitting you want me." Stein smirked widely. Marie's scowl deepened.
"I will punch you, Franken Stein." Marie crossed her arm. Stein nodded.
"I'm sure you will, Marie Mjolnir." Stein remarked. Marie clenched her fist and went to swing at Stein's arm, but he grabbed her punch before it could connect. Marie sighed and dropped her hand.
"I wasn't even trying." Marie said, a smile returning on her face, Stein noticed. Stein smirked back at her and nodded.
"Of course. I'll go check on Maka." Stein said. Marie nodded and gave a small smile, and as Stein turned to leave, spoke up.
"I wouldn't have punched you, you know." Marie said. Stein smirked.
"I know." Stein replied, walking down the corridor and meeting Maka as she walked out of her bedroom, a wide smile on her face. Stein knelt down to her eye level and pushed his glasses over the bridge of his nose.
"Are you out of your 'perdicament' now, Maka?" Stein asked. Maka nodded.
"I am." she smiled.
"Well, that's lucky. Go and get your towel, okay?" Stein asked. Maka nodded and ran out of the kitchen. Just as Stein went to sit down, he heard a bang and an almighty cry ring out from around the corner. He sprang to his feet and ran around the corner to see Maka on the ground, crying uncontrollably and clutching a reddening spot on her forehead.
"Maka…" Stein knelt down next to the little girl and tilted her head up gently, her teary green eyes blinking quickly.
"I hurted myself!" she exclaimed, through gasping sobs. Stein pulled her hand away from her face and examined her injury.
"You're going to be alright, Maka." Stein said. Maka looked up at Stein, having stopped crying. However, this was short-lived, and she burst out crying again, stretching out her arms and opening and closing her fists impatiently.
"Uncle Stein!" she cried out, her sobs becoming so violent that she began to cough. Stein scooped her up and held her close to his chest.
"Shh, shh, Maka... you're alright now." Stein said, cradling Maka and trying to soothe her cries. As he turned around, the toddler's cries fading, he saw Marie with a shocked look on her face.
"Wh-What happened?" Marie asked, shakily.
"She's okay. he slipped and hit her head, that's all." Stein said. Marie took a sharp breath in and walked toward Maka.
"Honey… do you still want to go swimming?" Marie asked. Maka looked up and nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Yes please, Aunty Marie." she said, the tears almost completely gone from her eyes.
"Okay." Marie nodded, before glaning up at Stein, nervously.
"She's going to be fine, Marie." Stein gave a small, genuine, reassuring smile. Marie calmed slightly at this, but she was still shaken. However, before she could worry further, Maka had perked up once more.
"C'mon, Aunty Marie! Don't be a slowpoke!"
"And so, Princess Sparkles, Prince Courage and the Happy Fun Elf finally made it to the Magical Castle of Love. The end." Stein finished, shutting the storybook and sliding it back on the shelf. Maka smiled sleepily and put her hand over Stein's. Stein turned to the little girl, puzzled at her actions.
"I sorry I pushed you into the pool, Uncle Stein." Maka said, sheepishly. Stein shook his head and chuckled.
"You didn't mean to, Maka. It's fine." Stein replied. Maka gave a small sigh of relief.
"Somebody pushed me, and then I pushed you. I no mean it." Maka said. Stein nodded.
"I know, Maka." Stein smirked. Maka nodded.
"But why did Aunty Marie laugh?" Maka asked. Stein grumbled and crossed his arms. He grit his teeth and disguised it as a smile.
"Because she's a lovely, sweet person." Stein said. Maka's eyes widened and she clenched her fists in anticipation.
"And you love her?" Maka asked. Stein sighed and dropped his arms.
"Goodnight, Maka." Stein said, pulling the covers up over Maka's shoulders. Maka sighed contentedly and closed her eyes. Stein stood from the bed and quietly walked out of the room, shutting the door around but not closing it completely. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, shuffling up the corridor and towards the bedroom.
However, when he got to the closed door of the bedroom, he heard sobbing. He walked over to the door and knocked on it gently.
"Marie?" he asked. No answer. He slowly opened the door and looked in the room to see Marie, her knees pulled up to her chest, sobbing into a pillow.
"Marie… what's wrong?" Stein asked, walking over to and sitting next to the hammer. Marie shook her head and buried her face further into the pillow. Stein rested his arm around Marie's shoulder.
"Come on, Marie… what's wrong?" Stein asked, pulling Marie from her curled-up position to lean against him. Her head still dropped but she began to speak.
"I… I just… Maka falling over, earlier, I…" Marie continued to sob, having crossed into the uncontrollable. Stein sighed and held her closer to his chest.
"Marie, it wasn't your fault. And she's fine." Stein reassured her.
"But she's under our care, Stein. The first time someone entrusts me with the care of their child and she gets hurt." Marie said. Stein shook his head.
"Marie, it was not your fault. You know that. It was an accident. They happen all the time." Stein said. Marie blinked up at Stein before glancing away.
"I just-" Marie stopped speaking when Stein pressed his hand to the side of her face, gently coercing her to look at him once more.
"It wasn't your fault. And I know she worried us for a bit there. But we couldn't have prevented it. And she's okay. That's the best we could have hoped for." Stein said. Marie's eyes widened and she felt a pang in her stomach.
Not of illness.
Not of anger.
It was that feeling of butterflies, the feeling that she'd experienced when she'd first me the lanky, silver-haired meister at Shibusen that she grew to love.
"Stein, I…" Marie stopped talking once more when she realised the growing closeness between herself and the man before her. It was only a matter of time before Marie's hand was against Stein's cheek, her thumb trailing over his brow and the scar that ran along his face. Marie felt the gentle pull of Stein's hand, guiding her lips towards-
"Aunty Marie?" a voice asked. Stein and Marie very nearly leapt away from each other, Marie to her feet and Stein sprawling awkwardly sideways across the bed.
"What is it, Maka?" Marie asked, walking over to Maka, kneeling down and taking her hand.
"I… I heard you crying, Aunty Marie." Maka said, quietly. Marie sighed and kissed Maka on the forehead, just above her bruise.
"Oh, honey. I'm okay now. I was just worried about your head." Marie said. Maka smiled and hugged Marie tightly.
"I'm okay, Aunty Marie." Maka whispered. Marie smiled and hugged the girl back.
"Are you going to go back to bed, Maka?" Marie asked. Maka looked down at the stuffed rabbit she was holding.
"Uhh…" Maka said to herself.
"What's wrong, honey?" Marie asked. Maka looked up at her godmother.
"There's a spider in my room."
"Okay, you are staying in here tonight." Marie said, picking up the little girl. Marie turned around and laid Maka in the middle of the bed, gently.
"Will the spider be gone tomorrow, Aunty Marie?" Maka asked as Marie laid atop the quilt, putting her arm around the toddler.
"I don't think he'll stick around very long, Maka." Marie smiled Maka gave a small sigh of relief.
"You tired?" Marie asked as Maka yawned and nodded.
"I sleep now." Maka said, shutting her eyes.
"Alright. Goodnight, sweetie." Marie said, kissing Maka on the forehead and letting her snuggle up to her side. Marie glanced over at Stein, both of them still completely aware of what would have happened had Maka not walked in.
"I can't make her sleep in her room if there's a spider." Marie said. Stein smirked and nodded.
"You always did hate spiders, didn't you?" Stein asked. Marie nodded.
"Yes. Still do." Marie said, shuddering slightly.
"There's nothing wrong with spiders, Marie." Stein replied, turning over to face her.
"I don't trust anything with eight eyes. Nor eight legs." Marie said. Stein shrugged and gave a small smirk.
"Fair enough." Stein replied. Marie sighed and bit the bullet.
"Stein, about before, I…" Marie trailed off.
"No, it's alright. Really." Stein said, sincerely. Marie nodded and glanced down at Maka, who was fast asleep.
"I think she's got the right idea." Marie said, deftly slipping her legs under the quilt and flipping off the light.
"Goodnight, Marie." Stein said, glancing over at the blonde. She gave a small, sleepy smile and watched as Stein shut his eyes, pulling the covers over his shoulders. Marie sat herself up ever so slightly.
"Goodnight, Maka." she leant down and kissed Maka on the nose, causing her to scrunch it up in a half-asleep stupor. Marie then leant over the toddler, gently kissing Stein's temple.
"Goodnight, Stein." she whispered before sliding back under the quilt.
A/N: So… did anyone get the Stitches series reference in there?
No? Go back to when Stein is comforting Marie. Then get back to me. :D